Multicompartment dispensing of different fluent materials



Nov. 16, 1965 R. E. FARRAR ETAL MULTICOMPARTMENT DISPENSING OF DIFFERENT FLUENT MATERIALS Filed July 31, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS Richard E.F0r James J. Russetf Barney J. Zmodo TTO Nov. 16, 1965 R. E. FARRAR ETAL 3,217,931

MULTIGOMPARTMENT DISPENSING OF DIFFERENT FLUENT MATERIALS Filed July 51, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR5 Richard E. Forror James J. Russeh Barney J. Zmodu BY W United States Patent 3,217,931 MULTICOMPARTMENT DHSPENSING 0F DIFFERENT FLUENT MATERIALS Richard E. Farrar, Morris Plains, James J. Rnssett, Wood- Rltlge, and Barney J. Zmoda, New Providence, NJ, asslgnors to Colgate-Palmolive Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed July 31, 1962, Ser. No. 213,666 8 Claims. (Cl. 222-94) This invention relates to dispensing devices and particularly to dispensing containers of the multiple compaitment type for the simultaneous discharge and mixing of different fluent materials.

It has been proposed generally to provide multi-cornpartment containers with provision for simultaneous discharge of fluent materials from the separate compartments. The present invention contemplates a novel structural arrangement whereby the individual compartments are easily filled and refilled and incorporated into assembly, incompatible liquids or powders are kept separate until the time for application, and the assembly has the external appearance of an ordinary single compartment container.

It is the major object of this invention to provide a novel multicompartment dispensing container structure for maintaining two incompatible liquids separate until use is desired and for efficiently mixing the liquids just prior to actual application.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel multicompartment dispensing container wherein inner and outer flexible receptacles containing distinct liquids are attached to a dispensing and mixing fitting arrangement of novel construction.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel duel compartment dispensing and mixing fitting which may be mounted in the neck of a more or less conventional outer flexible receptacle to suspend an inner receptacle within the outer receptacle.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a novel dual compartment dispensing package wherein liquids representing respectively an abrasive cleanser particle suspension and bleach such as a hypochlorite solution are separately maintained until actual use is desired and then the liquids are separately ejected from the fitting in immediate mixing relation.

Another object of the invention is a novel process wherein liquid streams containing respectively abrasive cleanser particles and a bleaching solution such as sodium hypochlorite are mixed at the point of actual application by simultaneous discharge from a multicompartment container. ll

Further objects will appear as the description proceeds in connection with the appended claims and the annexed drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation partially in section and partially broken away showing a multicompartment dispensing container according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a bottom plan view of the container mouth fitting;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary section showing a further embodiment wherein a difiierent fitting is employed;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary section on line 4-4 of FIGURE 5 showing another fitting embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 5 is a bottom plan view of the fitting of FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary section showing a still further embodiment of the fitting of the invention.

Referring to FIGURES l and 2 the multicompartment container comprises an outer flexible walled receptacle 11 providing a first liquid compartment 12, an inner flexible walled receptacle 13 providing a second liquid com partment 14, and a fitting 15 of special construction.

The outer receptacle 11 is here a cylindrical bottle preferably made of a semi-rigid material such as polyethylene which has all of the external appearance and characteristics of the usual squeeze bottle dispenser.

Receptacle 11 has a reduced diameter neck 16 preferably formed with external threads 17. The internal surface 10 of neck 16 is preferably a smooth cylinder.

Fitting 15 is preferably a symmetrical molded polyethylene plug unit of special shape having an axially extending cylindrical skirt 18 projecting from an annular radial lip 19. Skirt 18 is of such size and shape that it fits snugly and smoothly with essentially a snap friction fit within the cylindrical bore of neck 16, and the fitting is pushed into the receptacle 11 until lip 19 abuts and seats upon the flat end 21 of neck 16. This provides a liquid tight peripheral seal between the fitting 15 and receptacle 11, and the fitting 15 is thereby mounted tightly in place on receptacle 11 during all normal operation. The external diameter of lip 19 is preferably the same or less than the external diameter of neck 16.

Outwardly of lip 19 fitting 15 is formed with a generally conical end closure wall 22 reducing fairly sharply to a tip 23, and, as shown in FIGURE 2, end wall-22 is formed with two concentric rows of discharge openings 24 and 25.

Fitting 15 is internally formed with a reduced diameter skirt 26 that is concentric with skirt 181 and integrally joins the conical end wall of the fitting in a circular juncture 27 that separates the inner row of openings 25 from the outer row of openings 24. Skirt 26 is preferably at least as axially long as or longer than skirt 18.

An annular space 28 is thus provided between the skirts which is open at its inner end to the interior of receptacle 11, and has its outer end closed except for openings 24.

In this embodiment the inner receptacle 13 is in the form of a sac of semi-rigid material such as polyethylene, and it has a resilient neck portion 29 formed with an end bead 31 and slipped with a friction tight supporting fit over the open end of skirt 26 having a tapered tip 26' to facilitate mounting. Preferably an external bead 32 is formed on skirt 26 to coact with bead 31 in holding sac 13 suspended within the receptacle 11, even when sac 1 3 is filled with a liquid.

When sac 13 is mounted on fitting 15 the interior of the sac is open only into the space 33 within skirt 26, and the other end of space 33 is closed except for openings 25.

A cap 34 has an internally threaded skirt 35 rotatably and axially displaceably mounted on threaded neck 16. Cap 34 is formed with an outer end portion 36 that is conical with essentially the same shape as the conical wall 22 of fitting 15, and an opening 37 is formed at the apex of the cone.

Cap 34 is of such shape and size that when it is turned on its threaded engagement with neck 16 to the material discharge position of FIGURE 1 the concial portions of the cap and fitting define an annular conical mixing space 38 between them, and the only outlet for mixing space 38 is opening 37. The inner diameter of cap skirt 35 preferably has a smooth rotatable fit with the outer diameter of fitting lip 19 so that there is no leakage of material from space 38 past the lip.

When cap 34 is rotated on threads 17 to close the con- FIGURE 1 until its conical end 36 is tightly in full surface engagement with fitting end 22, so that space 38 is essentially extinguished, openings 24 and 25 are closed by cap portion 36, and cap opening 37 is closed by the fitting tip 23. When cap 34 is drawn tight the corner 3% of wall 36 engages lip 19 to clamp the fitting tightly onto the neck of receptacle 11.

In practice the sac 13 may be filled with one liquid and attached to fitting skirt 26. The receptacle 11 has in the meantime been filled with a second liquid. The bore of neck 16 is sufficiently large that the filled and mounted sac 13 may be lowered into receptacle 11 until the fitting skirt 18 snaps into place on neck 16. Then the cap 34 is mounted on threads 17 and tightened into place, and the assembly is complete and ready for shipment operations.

When it is desired to use the container, cap 34 is rotatably backed off to essentially the FIGURE 1 position. Lateral pressure exerted by squeezing receptacle 11 will result in discharge of liquid from receptacle 11 through openings 24 into mixing space 38. This pressure is also transmitted through the liquid in receptacle 11 to squeeze sac 13 and thereby also displace liquid therefrom through openings 25 into space 38.

Due to the conical shape of space 38, the streams of liquids exiting through openings 24 and 25 will angularly intersect within space 38 and the liquids from the respective compartments will therefore become thoroughly mixed just prior to discharge from the container through cap opening 37.

By selecting the openings 24 and 25 in suitable relative size and/or number the relative proportions of the distinct liquids discharged from the separate compartments 12 and 14 may be accurately controlled. If desired only one discharge opening need be provided for each compartment, although a series of openings usually results in increased mixing action.

The container of the invention has particular value for the simultaneous proportionate dispensing of any two liquids that would be unstable in the presence of each other but which provide a temporarily beneficial condition or mixture when brought together.

FIGURE 3 shows another form of fitting and end closure for the receptacle. Here fitting 41 is a plug unit formed with concentric inner and outer skirts 42 and 43, with the outer skirt smoothly sliding with the bore of receptacle neck '16 until the radial lip 44 abuts the end of the neck, as in the other embodiment. Skirt 42 is longer than outer skirt 43 and is formed with a bead 45 to coact with and support the reduced upper end of sac 13.

In this embodiment fitting 41 has a substantially planar end wall surface 46 outwardly of lip 44, and a central discharge opening 47 communicates through axial bore 47' to the interior of sac 13. Opening 47 is surrounded by a series of openings 48 arranged in a circle and connected by inclined passages 49 to the annular space 51 located between the fitting skirts and opening into the interior of receptacle 11. It will be noted that openings 48 are radially outwardly of the circular juncture 56 between skirt 42 and wall 46.

A cap 52 is threadedly mounted on neck 16, and cap 52 is internally formed with a mixing space recess 53 that is large enough to extend over all of the fitting openings 47 and 48. A discharge aperture 54 is provided for cap 52, and aperture 54 is closed by a suitable friction fit cap 55.-

As in the embodiment of FIGURES 1 and 2, sac 13 and receptacle 11 may contain two distinct liquids which are brought into contact only when receptacle 11 is squeezed and they are discharged in intersecting streams into the mixing space enclosed by the cap structure.

FIGURES 4 and illustrate a further embodiment of the invention which is useful where the liquids of the separate compartments are not volatile.

In this embodiment the neck 60 of outer receptacle 11 is not threaded because no cap is contemplated. The fitting 61 has an outer skirt 62 fitting snugly into the bore of neck 60 and an axially abutting radial lip 63 as in the other embodiments.

Also fitting 61 has an inner skirt 64 concentric with skirt 62 and mounting the inner compartment sac 13 as in FIGURE 1. The sac here is straight-walled. Skirt 64 integrally joins the outer closure end wall 65 of fitting 62 along a circular juncture 66. The closure end wall of the fitting may be conical as shown or any other suitable shape.

In this embodiment the only discharge opening is an opening 67 in wall 65 bridging juncture 66 so as to effectively provide an outlet for the inner compartment on one side of juncture 66 and an outlet for the outer compartment on the other side of juncture 66. Opening 67 may be located, shaped or sized to proportion the relative sizes of the compartment outlets. Also, if desired opening 67 may comprise two separate, but adjacent apertures through wall 65 on radially opposite sides of juncture 66.

In this embodiment there is no defined mixing space within the fitting and/ or cap structure, but the adjacently issuing streams from the respective compartments mingle during and following ejection at opening 67.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURE 6, the outer receptacle is the same as that of FIGURES 1 and 3, but the fitting 71 has no outer skirt structure. Fitting 71 comprises an inner beaded skirt 72 upon which inner compartment sac 13 is mounted as in FIGURE 3, and a radial lip 73 adapted to abut the outer flat edge of receptacle neck 16.

An annular cap 74 is mounted on neck threads 17 and when tightened it tightly clamps lip '73 onto the receptacle neck 16. The closure end Wall 75 of the fitting has a central opening 76 communicating through an axial passage 77 with the interior of sac 13, and a surrounding row of openings 78 connected by inclined passages 79 with the interior of receptacle 11. If desired a friction cap 81 may be mounted on the fitting over the openings 76 and 78.

In this embodiment the liquid from sac 13 discharged from opening 76 mingles and admixes with the intersecting streams of liquid from openings 78 immediately upon ejection from the container, when the outer receptacle 11 is squeezed.

The foregoing arrangement has proved particularly valuable in the proportionate dispensing of two distinct liquids which are incompatible or for some other reason must or should be kept separate until the time of use has arrived.

For example, in a preferred use of the invention the inner sac contains a liquid bleach compound such as a high strength sodium hypochlorite composition (15% available chlorine) containing liquid potassium silicate as a stabilizer, and the outer receptacle contains a liquid scouring cleanser solution containing suspended abrasive scouring particles and a detergent component that is capable of reacting with the sodium hypochlorite.

In the several embodiments the liquid scouring cleanser is usually contained in the outer compartment and comprises abrasive particles, a surface active agent such as a detergent and a liquid vehicle. This surface active agent is capable of reacting with chlorine, and after it so reacts the chlorine is no longer available for bleaching.

It is preferable to provide a sodium hypochlorite solution of high pH because it is more stable at'high pH. Sodium or potassium hydroxide may be added to raise the pH. On the other hand the pH of the liquid cleanser should be kept low to reduce the chances of irritation of the skin of the user. If the two are merely mixed in the same container the overall pH would have to be low to protect the user. Also if the two liquids, the cleanser and the hypochlorite, were merely mixed in the same compartment premature decomposition of the hypochlorite would be much greater than when kept separate as in the invention. Prolonged contact of the liquid cleanser and hypochlorite is accompanied by reaction between liberated chlorine and the detergent of the cleanser whereby a reduced amount of chlorine is eventually available at the time of use and this minimizes the bleaching efiectiveness of the mixture.

Due to the short time in which the separately stored cleanser and hypochlorite are in contact at the time of use according to the invention, the reaction between the hypochlorite and other ingredients does not take place so rapidly that there is any appreciable loss of bleaching power. Actually upon admixture of the two liquids there is a reduction in pH which may result in an increase in chlorine release which would actually improve bleaching.

This package and process whereby the bleach and abrasive carrying liquid are mixed only but immediately upon ejection from a common container is part of the present invention.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A multicompartment dispensing container comprising an outer flexible receptacle having an open neck terminating in an axially facing rim, a fitting having an end closure wall surrounded by an annular lip seated on the open end of said neck in sealing engagement with said rim, a skirt projecting axially from an annular juncture region common to said skirt and wall at the central portion of said wall into said outer receptacle and having an unobstructed hollow passage through said skirt to said Wall, means suspending a flexible inner receptacle on said skirt with its interior open only to said passage, and means providing another separate unobstructed passage through said fitting from the interior of said outer receptacle to said wall, said passages terminating at said wall in radially separate apertures that lie on radially opposite sides of said annular juncture region but are sufficiently adjacent that streams of material ejected therefrom are immediately initially mingled, and said inner container when filled being of such size as to be introduced into said outer container while suspended from said fitting.

2. In the container defined in claim 1, cover means mounted on said neck and cooperating with said fitting to provide a mixing chamber open to both of said apertures, and said cover means having a discharge opening through which the material mixture is ejected.

3. The container defined in claim 1 wherein said fitting apertures are formed by a single opening in the wall bridging said juncture.

4. In the container defined in claim 2, said cover means being threadedly mounted on said neck and clamping said lip against the rim of said neck when turned tight.

5. In the container defined in claim 2, said cover means being threadedly mounted on said neck and separately closing siad apertures when turned tight.

6. A multicompartment dispensing container comprising an outer flexible receptacle having an open neck, a fitting mounted in said neck and having a conical end closure wall surrounded at its base by an annular lip seated on the open end of said neck, a hollow skirt of smaller diameter than said neck projecting axially from the central portion of said wall into said outer receptacle and having an annular juncture with said wall, means suspending a flexible inner receptacle on the open end of said skirt, and means providing an unobstructed passage through said fitting from the interior of said outer receptacle to an aperture in said wall, said wall having another unobstructed aperture communicating with the interior of said skirt in adjacent radially separate relation to said first aperture but on the opposite side of said juncture so that material streams ejected therefrom are immediately initially mingled.

7. A multicompartment dispensing container comprising an outer flexible receptacle having an open neck, a fitting having an end closure wall surrounded by an annular lip seated on the open end of said neck, a skirt projecting axially from the central portion of said wall into said outer receptacle and having an unobstructed hollow passage through said skirt to said wall, means mounting a flexible inner receptacle on said skirt with its interior open to said passage, means providing another unobstructed passage through said fitting from the interior of said outer receptacle to said wall, said passages terminating at said wall in radially separate apertures that are sufliciently adjacent that material streams ejected therefrom are immediately initially mingled, and said apertures being of such relative size as to proportion the materials in said mixture, and a closure member having a discharge aperture movably mounted on said neck for movement between a closed position Where it separately closes both of said apertures and an open dispensing position where it forms with said wall a mixing chamber open to both of said fitting wall apertures wherein said material streams are mingled prior to discharge through said closure member aperture.

8. A multicompartment dispensing container comprising an outer flexible receptacle having an open neck, a fitting having an end closure wall and radially spaced annular skirts projecting from said wall, each of said skirts having an annular juncture with said wall, the outer skirt being fitted snugly into said neck and said outer skirt being surrounded by a radial lip axially sealingly seating on the open end of said neck, means mounting an inner flexible receptacle on said inner skirt, first unobstructed aperture means through said well into the interior of said inner skirt and second unobstructed aperture means through said wall into the space between said skirts, said aperture means being effectively on radially opposite sides of the annular juncture between said inner skirt and said end wall.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,438,906 4/1948 Elsas et al 222-129 X 2,510,269 6/ 1950 Winter.

2,661,870 12/1953 Huenergardt 2 22-142.5 X 2,831,606 4/1958 Alters 2221 2,876,935 3/ 1959 Lindberg 222 2,914,220 11/1959 Marraffino 222-145 2,918,199 12/1959 Marrafiino 222-1 2,925,200 2/1960 Cabe 222--215 X 2,941,696 6/1960 Homm 222145 X 2,973,883 3/1961 Moddern 222-145 X 3,054,535 9/ 1962 Clarey 222-215 RAPHAEL M. LUPO, Primary Examiner. LOUIS I. DEMBO, Exa mjner, 

6. A MULTICOMPARTMENT DISPENSING CONTAINER COMPRISING AN OUTER FLEXIBLE RECEPTACLE HAVING AN OPEN NECK, A FITTING MOUNTED IN SAID NECK AND HAVING A CONICAL END CLOSURE WALL SURROUNDED AT ITS BASE BY AN ANNULAR LIP SEATED ON THE OPEN END OF SAID NECK, A HOLLOW SKIRT OF SMALLER DIAMETER THAN SAID NECK PROJECTING AXIALLY FROM THE CENTRAL PORTION OF SAID WALL INTO SAID OUTER RECEPTACLE AND HAVING AN ANNULAR JUNCTURE WITH SAID WALL, MEANS SUSPENDING A FLEXIBLE INNER RECEPTACLE ON THE OPEN END OF SAID SKIRT, AND MEANS PROVIDING AN UNOBSTRUCTED PASSAGE THROUGH SAID FITTING FROM THE INTERIOR OF SAID OUTER RECEPTACLE TO AN APERTURE IN SAID WALL, SAID WALL HAVING ANOTHER UNOBSTRUCTED APERTURE COMMUNICATING WITH THE INTERIOR OF SAID SKIRT IN ADJACENT RADIALLY SEPARATE RELATION TO SAID FIRST APERTURE BUT ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF SAID JUNCTURE SO THAT MATERIAL STREAMS EJECTED THEREFROM ARE IMMEDIATELY INITIALLY MINGLED. 